Digital Toolbox: Communicating with Students
At a Glance
- Use for asynchronous information delivery of essential course content via pre-recorded video or discussion boards associated with class readings, lectures, etc.
- Use Teams when the goal is to engage students in active learning experiences when dynamic, rapid, or synchronous communication is expected.
- Use email when communicating sensitive information or when you need to document that communication has occurred.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Canvas | Microsoft Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low-bandwidth options | Email, OneDrive | , | Yes |
| High-bandwidth options | No | ||
| Setup Required | Automatically created and ready to edit | Class team created by request | Requires list of students' OHIO emails |
| Private student-instructor interactions | OneDrive Integrated Collaboration | Chat | Yes |
| Discussion formats | OneDrive Integrated Collaboration, Discussions | , Class Team | Listserv style (not ideal) |
| Audio/video-based communication | Embedded or linked media | Yes, synchronous | No |
| Full class participation | OneDrive Integrated Collaboration, Discussions, Email, Messages | Yes | Listserv style (not ideal) |
| FERPA compliant (i.e. OK to discuss grades) | Yes, if used appropriately | Yes, if used appropriately | Yes, if used appropriately |
A closer look
Communication between faculty and students is the foundational core of a successful class, particularly online courses. Students should be able to expect that:
- Essential course information will be in one central location. Grading policies, due dates, etc. should be kept in spot, such as the Course Information section on Canvas.
- It will be clear how to contact you. Tell students which platform—Teams chats, email, etc.—that you prefer they use to reach out to you.
- Each course activity has a consistent, central location. Think about your “categories” of course activities (e.g. exams, participation, lectures, discussions, etc). Each category should have a specific location—for example, you could have all exams be submitted through Canvas Tests, or all discussions occur via video chat on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the class Teams channel.
How do I decide which tool to use?
An effective framework for deciding on which communication tool(s) to use can be found in the article . He suggests balancing between immediacy and students’ Internet bandwidth as represented in the matrix below:
- High Bandwidth/Low Immediacy: Prerecorded video, asynchronous discussions with video, pre-recorded audio, asynchronous discussions with audio
- High Bandwidth/High Immediacy: Video conferences, audio conferences
- Low Bandwidth/Low Immediacy: Discussion boards with text/images, readings with text/images, email
- Low Bandwidth/High Immediacy: Collaborative documents, group chat and messaging
For example, low immediacy/high bandwidth tools, such as pre-recorded video, are best reserved for “what’s on the exam” content such as lectures or videos that summarize the upcoming week. Conversely, high immediacy tools are perfect for office hours or live class sessions. If students all have reliable Internet then video, such as are a solid choice. If students have less than ideal Internet, consider a lower bandwidth, but still high immediacy, .
Tool 1 - Canvas
Immediacy: Low
Bandwidth: Low-High
| Uses | Low Bandwidth | High Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|
| Asynchronous class discussions | via Canvas Discussion | via Voicethread discussions |
| General class announcements | via text-based Announcements | via weekly Announcement videos |
| Course content access | via Canvas Module and Pages Items | |
| Quizzes and Tests | via Canvas test options | via Proctortrack |
Tool 2 - Microsoft Teams
Immediacy: High
Bandwidth: Low-High
| Uses | Low Bandwidth | High Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|
| Synchronous class discussions and activities | via or collaboration on OneDrive documents | via audio/video chat |
| Online office hours | via Teams chat | via audio/video chat |
| Active communication, such as Q&A sessions | via Teams chat | via audio/video chat |
| Collaborative problem-solving between students | via Teams chat or collaboration on OneDrive documents | via video chat |
Tool 3 - Email
Immediacy: Low
Bandwidth: Low
Best used for:
- Communication that does not require an immediate response
- Communication for which you’d like to have a searchable record
Applying what you learned
Case Study: English 1510
Course: English 1510 - Writing and Rhetoric I
Format: Online class
Scenario: 20 students, some with unreliable home internet connections
Quadrants:
When deciding which tools to use to communicate with students, try to select three of Stanford’s quadrants that best fit your course and the learning contexts of your students. (It would help to .) Then decide what course content and activities best match that quadrant.
As an example, lets walk through the process using an ENG 1510 course. As a writing course we’ll need to plan for high immediacy/low bandwidth communication as students will be completing peer review for each of the three papers they will write in the semester. A great choice for this communication need would be having students write their essays via Microsoft OneDrive in which they can use Word Online and those can be shared with other students for peer review.
ENG 1510 has a core reading component and class discussions around those readings. In this instance, it would be ideal to provide some form of “face-to-face" communication to build a sense of community in the course. A low immediacy/high bandwidth communication tool, such as Voicethread, would be the best tool for this situation. Voicethread is a video-based discussion board that could be problematic for students with unreliable Internet. However, since the discussion activity will be due by the end of a weekly module, students would not have the stressor of needing to reply immediately and have the time to plan for and access stable Internet to complete the assignment. Voicethread also allows for an , so if Internet bandwidth is a problem for a student the less bandwidth-intensive audio option can be used. It would be best to make a note of that in the assignment information in Canvas
Finally, for English 1510 is the need to communicate weekly checklists and any updates to students. Since this communication would be one directional, the best approach for this would be a low immediacy/low bandwidth tool such as . The announcement feature is text-based, and students are sent an email version of the announcement.
Now we’ve constructed the basic communication infrastructure for an online English 1510 class uses three tools from separate quadrants of the bandwidth-immediacy matrix. By doing so we have added enough variety to engage students while still being respectful of the challenges they may be facing during online instruction.